Eleven Project Managers you do not want on your project

A good Project Manager is key to project success. We all know of stories of good project managers who were able to succeed in leading very tough projects, and unfortunately some not so good project managers who messed up rather straightforward ones.

I put together a list of eleven types of project manager behaviors that you need to keep an eye on as they might be detrimental to project health. Here they are in no particular order:

1. The absent managers: Their hearts are somewhere else, not in the job. The project is a way to get a paycheck. The main goal is to stay employed but not to do anything spectacular. It is just another job for them.

2. The Schedule lovers: All they see in the project is the schedule and tasks and the dates, and the assignments, but not the reality of the situation and not the big picture.

3. The sweet talkers: there is nothing wrong with sweet talk as long as it is followed with real work and solid deliverables. But these sweet talkers will have nothing of it. They will drag on with excuses and lots of talk but nothing gets done, until you fire them.

4. The flat out liars: Everything goes with these managers. They will lie, cheat, and do whatever it takes. Luckily, the joke is on them because most of those around them do nto trust them any more.

5. The cunning deceiptful manipulators: These are the most dangerous of all. Companies go bankrupt, people get fired, and projects fail, and these continue to deceive their way from one job to the other. They work under the radar and are good at blaming others for their mistakes. Very hard to catch them so be careful.

6. The cubicle potato: stays in his cubicle all day, working on his “plans” but seldom mingles with the project team, or goes to the field to see real work taking place and does not engage the client.

7. The hard skills managers: all the focus is on the steps it takes to develop a plan, track the progress, but never on what matters most: managing stakeholders and the team.

8. The technical managers: to them, the project is about deliverables and technical issues, but they have no grasp of the business results behind the project and the strategic objectives to be met.

9. The no politics managers: they refuse to acknowledge politics, culture, and the need to use both to the advantage of the project and its success.

10. The softies: afraid to take a stand and too soft in dealing with issues related to client and or team members and would put harmony in the way of resolving critical issues on the project. Clients and team members might love them, but they get no respect from them.

11. The indecisive ones: Afraid to make mistakes and delay and avoid making decisions, until the project suffers or it is too late.